St. Martin Center CEO David Gonzalez is dedicated to helping families in need.

“GECAC and St. Martin Center, we are the two leaders of rental assistance,” said Gonzalez. “We help individuals who are in crisis, not just the poor, but anybody who just happens to have a crisis.”

But when it comes to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, Gonzalez says both non-profits have been left out of the process.

"The county of Erie received about $17.5 million dollars to provide COVID rental assistance to people in need,” said Gonzalez. “At that time, interestingly enough, they made the decision behind closed doors as to who was getting those funds and how they were going to be administered."

According to Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper, that's not the case.

“I'm actually offended by Mr. Gonzalez saying something was done behind closed doors,” said Dahlkemper. “My administration has been transparent on everything we do."

Each year, the county contracts St. Martin Center and GECAC through the housing assistance program.

However, according to Dahlkemper, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program is different.

"The qualifications surrounding this money, the parameters, and the time frame is very different.” said Dahlkemper.

The county selected Erie County Care Management to distribute the funds.
Dahlkemper says the agency is pumping out $500,000 a week, which is what the county typically distributes in a year.

“There was a lot of thought that went into this and we looked at who we thought could not only run the whole program well, but also have the staff to get this money out as quickly as possible,” said Dahlkemper. “We're showing we made the right decision by the amount that is getting out there, and how quickly it's getting out there.”

Gonzalez says both St. Martin Center and GECAC should be involved in the process.

"We're concerned that's not the way the process should be handled, and we're concerned about conflict of interest and a lack of transparency when it comes to government funds,” said Gonzalez. “We're concerned it's going to impact clients, because you have individuals who don't know who provides that service.”

According to Dahlkemper, so far, a total of $2.4 million has been distributed.

"We made the best decision for the community as a whole, in terms of how this particular money can get out,” said Dahlkemper. “It's not up to the agencies to decide who we contract with."